Counterparts
by SunlitSky
Summary: When lightning strikes, everyone who's currently logged on to Maple Story comes face to face with their in game counterparts. To two men, it means pure genius. To their poor victims, it only means trouble. How in the world is the Earth going to survive the addition of thousands of (possibly insane) game characters? And will they ever return to the Maple World?


Somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains 

_Sir, are you sure you want to go through with this? Mass chaos and panic are likely to break out if we go through with "Reality."_

_I'm absolutely sure Mr. Thomson. This device is a new step in technology and I'm sure that our players will love it. _

_Love it? Mr. Riley, we haven't even tested it! For all we know, they could get killed and we'll be the cause of thousands, if not millions of deaths. _

_Nonsense! I have a feeling that this will work, I know that it will work. Switch the machine on Thomson! The storm outside will give us the power that we need for it. And don't worry about millions dying. This will only affect those who are currently on the game, which is about oh I don't know, a couple hundred thousand? Does that make you feel better?_

_No, it did not make him feel better. Mr. Thomson shakily went towards a computer. He inputted a command and a box came up. He clicked one of the buttons and a loading screen was on the screen. It was already on 10%. He wondered how he got stuck with this whack-job in the first place. _

_Mr. Riley chuckled. Oh this was going to be good…_

* * *

New York, United States of America

The lights in my room were turned off and the only light came from my laptop screen. Outside, I can hear it thundering, the rain pouring down in sheets and lightning striking. I was home alone for I was the only one who decided to not go to Philadelphia (I mean, who would in this weather?) I really hoped that the power won't go out. After all, I was so close to leveling up!

I felt a slight feeling of satisfaction as soon as the EXP bar hit "100%." My health and mana bars instantly filled up and the game gave me a notification to update my AP and SP. The chat bar at the bottom of my screen filled with sayings like "gratz! :DD" and "congrats jen!: from my guild mates and friends. Likewise I replied with a polite thank you and a smiley face to finish it off.

My body tensed as another boom of thunder filled the room. Gosh, why does thunder have to be so loud? One of these days, I'm going to have a heart attack because of one. My eyes glanced at the wall clock.

I rubbed my eyes in exhaustion. I've been on MapleStory for almost five hours, which was a new record for me. Today was the last day of school and I celebrated it by playing a game. God, I really don't have a life now do I?

I yawned for what seemed like the 20th time that night. It was then I decided to go to sleep. I could always play more tomorrow. I said good night to my guild and friends and started to log off when I felt electricity run through my body.

_Did I get hit with lightning? No, impossible. I'm inside my house… _I felt lightheaded; the world was spinning around me. I stumbled towards my bedroom door. But the next thing that I knew, I fell down headfirst onto the wooden floor and was soon unconscious.

"Hey, wake up girl! Are you okay?"

I groaned, not wanting to wake up. It was still dark outside so I figured that I didn't pass out for that long. I wiped the sleep from my eyes and looked up at the person standing above me.

She had long, black hair and purple eyes that were narrowed in annoyance. On her head was a white beanie and she wore rose earrings. Her top was a blue striped hoodie and I noticed that she wasn't wearing any pants. A wrist watch was on her arms and she held two elaborately decorated red dual bow guns.

Hold on, _what_? Does this mean what I think it means?

The girl snorted. "'Bout time you woke up. I was afraid I would've had to get rid of your body." She held out her hand. "My name's AurumArrow, Aurum for short. Yours?"

"Uh, Jen," I answered. I could not believe that this was happening right now. The only logical answer was that she was dreaming or that I hit my head and now I'm hallucinating. Yup, that's probably the answer…

Aurum smiled and she held her bow gun threateningly to my neck. "Well nice to meet you Jen. Would you mind telling me where I am? I was in the Temple of Time, killing 333 monsters for that insufferable quest line and the next thing I knew, I was in your room."

I gulped. Since when did my character act like a total psychopath?! If this is real, I'm not taking any chances. "You're at my house," I answered. "In the United States of America." _Please don't shoot me…please don't shoot me…_

She lowered the weapon slightly (I let out a small sigh of relief), a curious expression on her face. "The United States of America? I've never heard of such a place – and I've been all over Maple World!"

"We-well," I stuttered. "You're not in the Maple World. You're in Earth."

Aurum was confused. "Earth? Does that mean I'm in another world?"

"I guess so." I stood up and AurumArrow pointed the second bow gun at me.

"Where do you think you're going?" she growled.

"Um, I was just getting a map of my world ma'am. Since you're here, might as well know it right?"

"…Right. Oh, and would you mind getting me a cup of water? I'm parched."

"Sure thing," I said. It's not like I have anything else to do…

I ran to the living room to get the map I made for my History class (it's not the best, but it will do) and to the kitchen to get my "guest" water lest she would kill me. I wonder, if she was my character, why'd she act so different from me? Even when I was playing her, I practically acted the same as I was in real life. Are other people experiencing the same thing as I am?

I shook my head. I better hope not. My character turned out to be a complete lunatic. Who knows how the others would be? Speaking of which, I wonder if I should tell her that she's technically does not exist.

I suddenly had a feeling that would not bode well to me. Yeah, maybe I should tell her that later. For now, I'll just act as if I haven't heard about the Maple World before.

I ran to my room and opened the door slightly. "Aurum I got the map and your drink – damn it. What the hell do you think you're doing?"

I found her in front of my TV trying to pry the glass open. Her face was red and eyes full of fear and determination. "Glad you came here Jen. I got bored of waiting for you so I pressed a button on this magical box. But then I saw people trapped in it and it's my job as a hero to save them." Aurum punched the screen much to my horror.

"No, no, no. There aren't people inside of there," I explained. "They're actors on a TV show. I assure you, nobody is actually in the box."

Aurum stopped hitting the TV. "So nobody is in there?"

"Nobody is in there," I confirmed. I handed her the glass of water and laid the map out on my bed. "Right now we're here." I pointed at the U.S.

Her eyes widened. "Wow, you live in such a big country. What are those shapes inside it?"

"Those are called 'states.' This country has fifty of them and they're more or less 'united.' That's one of the reasons this country is called the United States you know."

"Hmm, I see," Aurum said. "Is that a country too?" She pointed to the one north of the U.S."

I nodded. "Yes. Its name is Canada. Almost everything you see here is a country. The biggest of them all is Russia." I pointed to it. "It's mostly an icy wasteland though. The Western part is where almost everybody lives."

"…You seem to know a lot about these countries," AurumArrow noticed. "Is it a hobby or something?"

I blushed. "I guess you can say that. I want to travel the world someday but I don't have enough money so the best thing that I could do is read about them."

"Aw, I pity you. I've been almost everywhere in the Maple World, except for the deepest parts of the Temple of Time obviously."

I laughed. "What was your favorite place?"

"I think it will be Elluel, or maybe Leafre. They're both pretty nice and so soothing. Well, Leafre is soothing if you don't go outside town. Then it's the complete opposite when you're being chased by overgrown lizards."

I smiled on the inside. Those were my most favorite places to go too. Perhaps we _do _have something in common. "And what was your least favorite?"

"Definitely El Nath. That place was like a frozen hell. The equipment that I was wearing didn't protect me at all from the cold and I kept slipping and sliding all over the place." Aurum shivered at the memory at it.

I thought back to the time when I went to the place. I actually enjoyed sliding over the surface and thought it was fun. Apparently my character didn't like it as much. "Those places sound amazing, even El Nath."

Aurum snorted. "I suppose so. Man, talking about home makes me feel nostalgic – and tired for that matter. Do you have any place for me to sleep?"

"Oh! Um, you can sleep in the living room, on the couch. I'll bring you a couple of blankets and pillows for you."

Aurum waved them way. "No thanks, I'm used to not sleeping with those things. In fact, I quite like sleeping without them. But I'll take the couch."

"If you insist," I answered. "The bathroom is right across from my bedroom in case you need to go." _Maple World does have proper plumbing right?_

"Where am I going to keep my weapons?" She pointed at the massive bows.

I curled my lip. What was I going to do with them? It's not like I have a special place to put dual bow guns on… "You can keep them here."

Aurum frowned. "But, I like them close to me. I feel empty whenever they're not around. Can't you hide it somewhere in the living room?"

I sighed. "Fine. You can put them under the table besides the couch. Make sure you don't shoot anything in there. I don't want anybody coming up here at this hour."

Aurum nodded. "You got it Jen. Good night."

"Good night Aurum. I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

Los Angeles, California

Sometimes I wonder if the world is really out to get me.

I watched as the man in front of, one with bright pink hair and wearing blue overalls was admiring my mother's china set. You know, in the game he was a lot better looking but in real life... it sort of made me regret buying those things in the cash shop. To be honest, I had no idea where he came from. One minute I was playing Maple Story, the next I was on the floor with this guy smiling down on me.

"Like, you mom has great taste in tea ware. Do you think she'll let me borrow this if I ask very nicely?" He looked at me with wide blue eyes.

"No Axis, you cannot. That's her favorite tea set. If you touch it, she'll kill me," I irritatingly answered. "Please sit down and stop acting like a child."

Axis (whose full name was xCorAxis. But since that was a mouthful to say, he just shortened it), pouted. "You're no fun Willy-kins. Aren't you supposed to be me too?"

I cringed at how he called me 'Willy-kins.' "Don't remind me. I can't even believe that we're the same person. I mean, _how? _We're complete opposites! And by the way, it's William. Not 'Willy-kins' or any kind of stupid nickname that you come up for me. "

He spun his gun around his fingers and whistled serenely. "I don't know. But surely we must have something in common?" He stopped spinning the gun. "And besides, calling you plain old 'William' is no fun! Nicknames are much more fun!" He gave me a sickly-sweet smile.

I groaned. As if he wasn't creepy enough. Is it because he dressed like a girl? Wait, I technically dressed him that way... God, if I ever make it out with all my sanity intact, I have to remind myself to never dress my of my characters like that ever again.

* * *

Somewhere in the Appalachian Mountains

_Plan Reality was a success! I never would've imagined that it would work this well._

_Ne-neither did I Mr. Riley. Neither did I. But it seems that the player's characters developed their own personalities and only one of them was materialized. _

_Hmm… I suppose it would be better that way. We don't want mass hysteria to break out don't we? _

_Mr. Thomson groaned. Maybe not immediately, but he's pretty sure that it would break out soon. He figured that one of the Evans that materialized would burn down a building tomorrow and Thief will go on a stealing spree. And yet, the young man couldn't wait to see what would happen the next day._

* * *

**Okay for my first MapleStory fanfic, was that any good? Please tell me in the reviews. **

**More characters are going to be introduced and I want this story to be more of a "worldwide" sort of thing. If you're going to review, give me two countries from each continent that you would like me to create characters for and maybe ideas for IGN's for the characters too. Please specify which class they are. So far, I'm making them all up and I'm not entirely sure whether they're taken or not (well AurumArrow is mines). **

**And yes, I know the Los Angeles one was pretty short. But I'll expand more on him in the next chapter. **


End file.
